San Francisco Giants' Matt Moore grimaces after throwing a pitch against Los Angeles Dodgers in 1st inning during MLB game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, September 13, 2017.

San Francisco Giants' Matt Moore grimaces after throwing a pitch against Los Angeles Dodgers in 1st inning during MLB game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Wednesday, September 13, 2017.

Photo: Scott Strazzante, The Chronicle

Image 2 of 3

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore throws against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.

San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Matt Moore throws against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017.

Photo: Nhat V. Meyer, TNS

Image 3 of 3

Giants trade starter Matt Moore to the Rangers for prospects

1 / 3

Back to Gallery

In Matt Moore’s first season with the Giants, he pitched them to within an inning of a winner-take-all playoff game against the eventual World Series champs. In his second year, he statistically was the worst starter in the majors.

Moore, 28, will not get a third year in San Francisco. The Giants traded him to the Texas Rangers on Friday night in their first significant move of the offseason, a case of financial addition by subtraction.

The Giants will receive minor-league pitchers Sam Wolff, a 26-year-old who is out at least until June after flexor-tendon surgery in his right elbow, and Israel Cruz, a 20-year-old from Venezuela who has not pitched beyond rookie ball.

They are not considered blue-chip prospects, but they throw hard and the club wants to stock its system with more strikeout pitchers to keep up with a trend toward relievers who can blow a hitter’s doors off.

The Giants also will send $750,000 in international bonus slot money to Texas in the deal, which The Chronicle first reported Friday afternoon.

The trade will save the Giants $9 million in Moore’s 2017 salary, giving them greater flexibility to sign or trade for the outfielders and third baseman they need while attempting to stay below the $197 million luxury-tax payroll threshold.

The Giants knew they would have to move big-league players to achieve those goals. Denard Span and his $11 million salary would have gone to Miami in the proposed Giancarlo Stanton deal.

“We do have to improve the roster,” general manager Bobby Evans said after the trade. “It’s going to require making sacrifices to get better.”

He would not divulge if he planned to shed more salary, saying, “It’s not a ‘have to’ proposition.”

The Giants feel they have rotation depth. Beyond Madison Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, they could slip any two of Chris Stratton, Tyler Beede, Ty Blach and Andrew Suarez into the final two slots. Evans said he would prefer not to trade any of the four.

Moore could not be reached for comment, but said in September he “100 percent” hoped to return.

“It’s been great, my time here, minus the winning percentage,” Moore said. “I’ve really enjoyed the city and the staff we work with every day, the ballpark, the division.”

Evans spoke to Moore twice Friday and said the pitcher understood the move.

“His reaction was very affirming about his time with the Giants,” Evans said. “He’ll take whatever challenge is put before him, but he really enjoyed his time here and expressed a wish that it could have been longer.”

The Giants acquired Moore from Tampa Bay at the 2016 trade deadline for third baseman Matt Duffy and 18-year-old prospect Lucius Fox, whom they signed a year earlier for a $6 million bonus.

Moore helped guide the Giants in 2016 to a National League wild-card spot, nearly no-hitting the Dodgers along the way. He also pitched eight innings and allowed two runs in Game 4 of the Division Series against the Cubs at AT&T Park, only to watch the bullpen blow a 5-2 lead in the ninth, allowing the Cubs to clinch.

Moore’s only full year with the Giants, 2017, was terrible. He was 6-15 with a 5.52 ERA, the highest of any major-leaguer who qualified for an ERA title. In his 43rd and final start for San Francisco, he allowed seven earned runs and got just four outs in an 11-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.

Manager Bruce Bochy hoped to let Moore pitch one more time before the season ended to wash the bitterness of that game out of his mouth, but it did not happen.